Thursday, September 09, 2010

Newsflash - Paisley not a Catholic

Or, if you are stickler for protocol, the Rev Lord Bannside is not entirely delighted that Josef Ratzinger will be welcomed by the British state. As Sky puts it:

It is not the first time that the Free Presbyterian preacher has protested at the presence of the Pontiff - You don't say.

If that surprises you, it may be as well to sit down before the additional disclosure in this story: his Lordship attempted to dissuade Tony Blair from joining the Roman Catholic church.

There has been much speculation about why Catholicism so appealed to Blair; I have yet to read his memoir (I'm waiting for it to appear in charity shops; I'll send the cover price to the Royal British Legion) but I am led to believe that he does not fully explain this in his book.

In the interim, the question as to why an institution that has colluded in some monstrous errors and crimes (many of which appear in direct conflict with its founding principles) and managed to make a mess of all manner of basic administrative tasks, all the while maintaining an utter faith in its own righteousness and entitlement to power and wealth, should have such an appeal for one of the architects of New Labour must, sadly, remain a mystery.

I do so hope that Lord Bannside and Prof Dawkins will find themselves standing side by side when barracking that silly old German fellow next week.